Connecting 2 Harnesses (Assemblies) - Wiring Harness Design

                                                             Wiring harness design in CATIA V5 - 3D modelling 

In this challenge, we need to route the given harness layout in the Electrical Workbench.

We will create the harness layouts in 2 different product files. After routing these layouts we can connect both of them in a single product file and perform the below operations.

• Checking the bundle Continuity
• Adding annotation to all connectors
• Checking for the bundle warning
• Generating CAT.part of harness assembly and convert is in .igs format

Before starting routing the harness layout, we need to define the connectors (parts) electrically using Electrical Part Design Workbench.

The input required for setting up the layout is given to us in the form of CAD data (connectors). With the help of these connectors, we will be routing the wiring harness layout by positioning them as per the below-given layout.

The connectors are the mechanical parts that need to be converted into electrical parts to route the harness. The steps that include in converting the mechanical parts into the electrical parts are as follows,

Once these connectors are converted or saved in the catalogue, we can assemble them using the Mechanical Assembly workbench.

Now, this assembly needs to be converted into electrical assembly using an Electrical Harness Assembly workbench. Without converting the assembly to electrical assembly, the harness procedure can't be processed.

The next step is to identify the position of the connectors and arrange them accordingly.

Since we get the layout for both Harness A & B, we will position the connectors accordingly.

Given Layout

Harness A

Harness B

After both assemblies are ready, we can assemble them in a single product file (main assembly).

Using Connect Electrical Devices option we will connect these harnesses.

Checking the bundle continuity

A wiring harness engineer must need to check the connectivity of the bundle before releasing the Harness Assembly. To check the continuity of the bundle, Go to Assembly Workbench > Edit > Search and select the Advanced Tab. In the Advanced tab select Workbench as Electrical, Type as Bundle Segment and Attribute as fully connected.

There are two options for checking the continuity. A true condition that shows what branches are connected and a false condition that shows unconnected branches. If there are no unconnected branches then the search results will not show any branch as shown in the figure below.

True Condition

False Condition

Adding an annotation to all connectors

While sharing the CAD data of the harness with other engineers it is helpful to add annotations to the components. It is not common for every engineer to be aware of the wiring harness and its components hence putting an annotation in the CAD file helps them to understand the components included in the harness.

Checking for the bundle warning

A bundle warning during the wiring harness in CATIA may be occurred due to bend radius, the vector direction, length of the bundle, etc. These issues can be resolved by adding the slack or changing the vector position or if possible changing the position or orientation of the connector. Below I have to change the vector direction to avoid the bundle warning.

Generating CAT.part of harness assembly and convert is in .igs format

Once the routing is completed, a harness engineer needs to share this data with multiple teams. There is a possibility that while sharing the assembly file the data may be lost or misplaced or the file gets corrupted. Also, the team which receives this file may not be using the same software like yours. Hence it is recommended to share the file in .igs format after converting the assembly to CAT.Part.